Cybils

REVIEW Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

Jackie Parker of Interactive Reader has been in the kidlitosphere since way back in 2005! That means oodles of reviews, author interviews, and YA book news from a knowledgeable source--Jackie is a Teen Librarian in the Seattle area, and she loves being able to share quality books with teens as part of her job. She's also our category organizer for Young Adult Fiction, as well as a judging panelist.

One of her recent Cybils-related posts was a combination book review and interview with Sara Zarr, author of Cybils YA Fiction finalist Sweethearts. Zarr's latest novel is the story of Jenna and Cameron, two childhood friends whose lives separated them for a few years. Now, Cameron is back in town, and Jenna is forced to face painful parts of her past that she's been trying to hide. In her interview, Jackie digs deeper into various facets of this complex novel:

Family in both of your books play an important role
- especially father figures. It's refreshing to see in Sweethearts a stepfather character who is loved as much as a biological father might be.

To read more about this book, straight from the author's mouth, click here.

REVIEW Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things

Alysa Stewart, one of our nominating panelists for Middle Grade Fiction this year, contributes to Everead. Simply described as "a book blog," this site brings together the words of wisdom of a couple of book lovers who enjoy talking kids' books as well as sharing news, quotes, interviews, contests, and other tidbits.

One of the reviews featured on Alysa's blog discussed Middle Grade finalist Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things, written by Lenore Look and illustrated by the incomparable LeUyen Pham. Alvin is an irrepressible second-grade boy whose hilarious adventures at school place him squarely with the likes of Ramona Quimby. Except, maybe, for one thing:

Alvin says that he has been diagnosed with "so-so performance anxiety disorder." This means that he doesn't talk when he gets scared and won't make a peep in school!

Read the full review here.

Don't look now, but the ALA is catching up to us

Thank goodness the Cybils finalists were announced before all the ALA honorees, or someone would think we were copying them.  Sheesh! 

Below is all the overlap I spotted.  Please correct me/make additions in the comments.  More discussion over the weekend as I have time to mull their choices, and what it says about our allegedly different criteria.  Hmmm.

Newbery Medal winner Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book" is on our Fantasy/SF short list, as is honor book "Savvy" by Ingrid Law. 

Another Fantasy finalist, Elizabeth Bunce's "A Curse Dark as Gold" won the very first William C. Morris award, which "celebrates impressive new voices in young adult literature" (according YALSA).

Caldecott's?  Only honor book "A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams" overlapped, which appears on our Non-Fiction Picture Books short list. 

We had no luck with the Theodor Seuss Geisel awards, but we did notice they share our fondness for Mo Willems.  He picks up--what, his second, or third?--Seuss, and appears twice on our 2008 Easy Readers list, though for different titles. Prolific guy, huh? Thank goodness.

One of our YA finalists, Melina Marchetta's "Jellicoe Road" won a Printz award, with E Lockhart's "The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Bank" getting an honor designation.

Last, but in no way least, Kadir Nelson gets the nod from both ALA and us for "We Are the Ship: The Story of the Negro League Baseball." He's on our Non-Fiction MG/YA list, and earned several honors from ALA, including the Coretta Scott King Author Book award.  His was also a King illustrator honor book and the Robert F. Sibert Medal for most distinguished informational book for children.

I put Nelson last because of an interesting, if perplexing, discussion I had with a conservative co-worker last night as I wrote up the Newbery Medal news for radio broadcast. My co-worker argues against a King or a Pura Belpre award, saying we no longer need awards segregated by race or ethnicity.  Are we really that post-racial?  I can't imagine not having the King awards.  They're fun and prestigious, especially as the field of excellent books by or about African-Americans grows more crowded. 

So I'll toss this little bombshell out there.  Should book awards be post-racial? Is there such a thing?

And what of the overlap between ALA books and our own finalists? Have we succeeded in persuading the lit-ah-rahry world that popularity counts for something?

Do tell.

--Anne Levy, Editor

REVIEW Imaginary Menagerie: A Book of Curious Creatures

Kelly Fineman, our hardworking category organizer for Poetry this year, posts her thoughts about poetry, children's writing, and other kidlit topics on her blog, Writing and Ruminating. A poet herself, she is, of course, a regular participant in Poetry Friday.

During one of her Poetry Friday posts, she featured all kinds of books featuring bird-related poetry, including one of this year's Cybils Poetry finalists, Imaginary Menagerie: A Book of Curious Creatures written by Julie Larios and illustrated by Julie Paschkis. Though it isn't strictly about the everyday sort of birds we're all used to, it does include a striking poem about the legendary Thunderbird, as well as poems about other mythical creatures:

I highly commend this book to poetry lovers and art lovers alike, as well as folks who like folktales...as it covers mythical creatures like mermaids, dragons, centaurs, trolls, sea serpents, and hobgoblins, as well as gargoyles, the firebird, cockatrice, the sphinx, will o' the wisp, the naga and the phoenix.

Read the full review here.

More Author Love for the Cybils

Earlier this month, we shared some lovely feedback from authors happy to see their books on the Cybils shortlists. Here is some additional author joy:

• Bonny Becker (A Visitor for Bear) emailed: "HOORAY!! HOORAY!! HOORAY!!  What an honor. All the nominees in fiction picture books are wonderful. Thanks to all the reviewers--not an easy job."
• Lenore Look (Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things) emailed: "WOOOOOHOO!!! I was SO thrilled to find my little Alvin among the finalists for your fantastic award. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it! And like Alvin, I was stunned speechless. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for loving Alvin, and for giving him this FABULOUS start!"
• Christine Fletcher (Ten Cents A Dance) wrote: "When I say that just being named a finalist is an honor, believe me, I'm not being squidgy. I've read some of these books and been blown away by them. To be included on the same list is...well, it's freakin' unbelievably fabulous, is what it is. Unreal in the best possible way."
• D.M. Cornish (Lamplighter: Monster-Blood Tattoo, Book 2) wrote: "A true and dare I admit astonishing honour - (watch for my over-use of this word in Book 3... :( - to be included amongst such lights. Congrats to us all, to the judges for hour upon hour of reading to get to this list, to anyone who dares attempt to write a book - shortlisted, awarded or otherwise - and to you most excellent folk who read!" 

I also wanted to share a quote from one more author. Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink was a Cybils nominee in Middle Grade Fiction this year (though not a shortlist title). Anna Smudge author MAC was recently interviewed by Cybils panelist Shelf Elf (Kerry Millar). MAC closed her interview with this: "I want to take a second to give my sincere gratitude to everyone in the kidlitosphere. Seeing a community spring up to promote literacy fueled solely by these bloggers’ passion is very special. YOU are now the center of children’s literature- not the publishers, the authors, or the trade magazines. You gals and guys are a real inspiration."

If you ask me, all of these quotes are an inspiration. We welcome your feedback, too.

-- Jen Robinson, Literacy Evangelist 

REVIEW Savvy by Ingrid Law

Oh, those wonderful 7-Imps! Jules and Eisha of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast have some of the coolest interviews and most in-depth reviews around. I know I speak for many of us around the kidlitosphere in saying that I feel like they're my blogging soul sisters; moreover, they've been an integral part of the Cybils from way back when in Aught Six.

One of their co-reviews, sent in by Fantasy and Sci-Fi judging panelist Eisha, was of finalist title Savvy by Ingrid Law. This middle-grade fantasy novel tells the story of "Mibs" Beaumont, who is on the cusp of thirteen and on the verge of coming into her rather unusual birthright--the "savvy." Her savvy powers could be anything--one of her brothers can even create hurricanes--but will they be enough to solve her problems? Or enough to save her father? Says Eisha:

The idea of a family of extra-specially-abled people is irresistibly cool, but the author does a good job of painting a realistic picture of what that would really mean.

Click here for the full review.

Updated Cybils Flyer!

We've updated our double-sided Cybils flyer with the 2008 shortlists, so you can get the latest information out to your nearest libraries, schools, bookstores and eager readers. As always, we thank you all for your help in spreading the word!

As before, the front page of the flyer includes a description of what the Cybils are all about, nomination instructions, important dates, and contact information. Just click on the graphic at right to download the flyer (.PDF format, 508KB). Requires Adobe Reader.

--Sarah Stevenson, Deputy Editor

True Confessions of an ex-English Major

Okay, this is completely off-topic for this blog, and my apologies if it strikes anyone as inappropriate.  I just wanted to share a weird dream I had last night ...

In it, I'm in an apartment in DC (I've never lived there, ever) and I'm with Barack Obama.  He's wearing only a towel.  Those pecs!  Wow.  I'm, uh, similarly clad.  Ahem.  (Blushes).  He languidly hands me a thick sheaf of papers; the typed pages are laced with penciled-in notes. 

I realize it's a draft of his inauguration speech. Gasp!  Moi?

He nods.

The imminent leader of the free world looks at me with those brown doe-eyes and says, "Look this over and let me know what you think, would you?"

I lounge.  I sift through pages.  I gaze into the face of hope and change and say, fumbling for the right word, "It's so ... so ... scholarly." 

He beams. 

I wake up. 

O.M.G.   I'm still panting.  Somebody pass me a chocolate before I faint.

Happy Inauguration Day tomorrow, everyone.

--Anne Levy, editor

REVIEW Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig

If you haven't yet visited The Reading Tub, where Easy Readers panelist Terry Doherty is a blogger, then you're missing out on a wealth of reviews, interviews, and extensive book lists organized by age, reading level, and topic--including books for fans of Harry Potter. There's something for every young reader, from babies to teens.

One of our Cybils finalists in the Easy Reader category is Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig, by Kate DiCamillo. When Terry reviewed this title, she included the "Little Kid Reaction" (her daughter's) as well as the "Big Kid Reaction"--and both were enthusiastic about the Mercy Watson series and its porcine hero. As well as being fun to read together as a family, it also has some educational applications:

There are a number of themes you can explore: being a good neighbor, caring for pets, being a good pet-owner neighbor, problem solving, loyalty, friendship, and being/getting lost.

Read the full review here.

A Cybils panelist recaps her experience

I just wanted to give a quick shout-out to Stephanie Ford, who wrapped up her duties as a panelist in fiction picture books recently.  She blogged about what went on behind the scenes, which I found fascinating and fun.  We're all about transparency here, so thanks, Stephanie, for parting the curtains for us. 

--Anne Levy, Editor